Eye Contact
by Niamhako
Summary: She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.
1. Comrade

Eye Contact

**Summary: **She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.

**Disclaimer: **Astonishingly, I do not own Naruto. Do you really think that Masashi Kishimoto writes fanfiction for his own manga? Thought not, isn't thinking lovely?

"Fuck." Blood dribbled down her chin as she felt two of her right ribs crack from the force of the blow. With heavily depleted chakra, severe wounds, no backup as far as she could see and two as-yet unscathed opponents, things had looked better for Konoha's little medic.

"I'm disappointed kunoichi," his voice was amused and, ironicly, a little disappointed. "After defeating Kira, I expected more. She was about as strong as me, surely you could have put up more of a fight?"

Not bothering to point out that she had sustained most of her injuries while fighting the rock kunoichi about 5 minutes ago and that taking on two equally strong opponents immediately after such a trial was a bit beyond her abilities, Sakura prepared to block another attack.

It came as kunai disguised under heavy genjutsu, and there it was, a much needed openning for the young rosette. Blocking the visible shuriken with her katana, she pretended to not see the invisible attack. As five kunai pounded into her apparently exposed chest, her overconfident enemies charged towards their 'fallen' foe. The blonde one froze immediately, the genjutsu cast by the chunin proving too much for him. Releasing the genjutsu, the brunette who had been expecting a better fight charged straight into her hail of senbon.

Struggling to remain conscious, the girl walked away from the enemy nin, pocketing the scroll as she did so. It had been a long battle with two dead chunin and a dead jounin to show for it on her part, and with no chakra to heal herself, she was forced to wait until Naruto received her signal. And God only knows how long that could take.

This scroll...

God knows why Tsunade gave the mission to two chunin. If this scroll made it to the Rock Country, it would mean that they would be strong enough to invade. Chiyo's technique. The ability to raise the dead. Imagine every mildly skilled patriotic rock-nin raising the legendary shinobi who were barely defeated by Konoha's most skilled ANBU. Yet her sensei seemed to have so much faith in her. She didn't understand why, she was average at best. All she was good for was her medical skill.

**_Then how were you able to defeat a jounin and two chunin at once?_**

That voice, once so fiery and impassioned, now often returned as a sly messenger, voicing doubts and the occasional compliment. The only thing that every one of it's increasingly frequent messages had in common was simple. They all disturbed the natural flow of Sakura's thoughts, and they never set her at ease.

What if her 'Inner' was right? What if Tsunade saw something more in her than a bright chunin. Her last seven missions had all been A-rank. Track down Akatsuki to bring back Gaara. Track down Sasori's subordinate, working under Orochimaru. Back up Team 9 as they battled Akatsuki. Track down Uchiha Itatchi. Go _solo _to The Hidden Grass village to work undercover as a waitress in a particularly infamous restaurant, eavesdropping on two Akatsuki members who, had they looked at her closely, would know her on sight. Fill in as head medic on the front lines during the Sound's second attempted invasion. And now recover a forbidden scroll from a highly infamous squad, intent on their country becoming stronger than Konoha in order to invade.

Surely it was all too much for one lowly chunin?

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto, looking unhurt but a little flustered, was running towards her, looking terrified for her. "What happened? Were you attacked? Did you get the scroll? Are you hurt? Did they-"

Holding up a hand to stop the flow of questions, Sakura took a deep breath.

"I wasn't attacked Naruto, I saw a chunin holding the scroll and I thought I could take her. Turns out I was right, but her team mates wanted it back. That's where I got most of my injuries," ('A lie,' she thought, 'They were actually easier to take out than the first girl.') "but I managed to take them out with genjutsu. My injuries are: two broken ribs, six minor stab wounds, one stab wound that would have been critical if I hadn't healed myself, a sprained wrist, a shattered ankle, a broken collar bone and I inhaled some unknown poison. It doesn't appear to be fatal, but it depleted my chakra quite heavily to get it out of my system."

Over the past three months, she'd become more and more like this. Very efficient and matter-of-fact and also rather distanced and less fiery. She was the same old Sakura, but less prone to over reacting and much more calm. Naruto didn't know if it were a good or bad thing. On one hand, it meant a lot less head injuries for him. On the other, the cool smirk she wore when he did or said something stupid reminded him painfully of Sasuke.

"Then you'll be low on chakra and needing medical attention?" It was a ridiculous question, she was clearly exhausted and rather badly beaten up. But it was always nice to ask.

As she nodded, he rested his palms on the back of her hands, tapping into his huge reserves of chakra. It was protocal for every medical-nin to learn how to tap into other people's chakra. After all, when the medic got tired, their team were on their own.

Slowly, so slowly it was hardly noticeable, the obscure bumps in her clothing smoothed away and the bleeding in her side died down and eventually stopped. Satisfied, the two exhausted ninja ran to return the stolen scroll to Konoha. Half a day of constant running left them both exhausted, but complaining was out of the question. Especially for Sakura who was in charge. Again, she frowned in confusion, why was she in charge? Sure, Naruto was an over excitable idiot who couldn't realisticly be trusted to lead an important mission, but in most cases like these, Tsunade would rely on their teamwork to pull them through without a leader.

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"Sakura!" Grimacing, the pinkette turned to face her best friend. Not used to being mothered so much after her 14 day mission, Ino's nagging and concern wasn't welcomed. But she still felt grateful to be dragged to hospital so, entrusting the scroll to her team mate, she fell into a much needed sleep.

'Oh God.' A most annoying Naruto and a wailing Sakura. A groaning Shikamaru and a lecturing Kakashi. An angry hokage and a host of teary fangirls. If he was very, very lucky. He was in the bingo books, wanted by every ANBU in Konoha. They'd probably just kill or banish him, and if they did then he wouldn't mind. Half of the sound village was working on killing his brother. If Konoha killed him then he'd have achieved his goal. If they banished him then his ridiculously emotional team mates would stop attempting to track him down.

But a wave of nostalgia hit him and he realised that he longed to have Naruto challenging him to a fight and screaming about becoming Hokage. For Sakura to cry for protection and fuss over his well being. For Kakashi to be unfashionably, unreasonably late and drive them insane by reading his porn at ill timed moments.

Hell, he wanted to be _home._

Even a furious hokage wouldn't ruin the image.

A cry went through the village, a boy had been beaten to near death and was now dragging himself across to the Hokage's office, or was it the hospital he was seeking?

A blissfully unaware Sakura remained in a dreamless sleep, not caring about her injuries or anyone elses for that matter. She didn't even care for the boy who had stolen her heart so long ago, who had changed her, made her stronger and had set a spark in her that grew under her cool exterior to a burning hatred for the one who had hurt her.

Yes, she hated him. And yes, deep down she loved him. Yes, even if he proposed to her tomorrow she would still reject him and push him away.

But it didn't matter. All that mattered was a deep, soothing sleep.

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"I see." Naruto's uncharacteristically calm voice shook slightly as he looked at his former comrade.

"He should be awake tomorrow." The Hokage spoke softly, so as not to awake the other patients who needed rest, but her voice trembled with silent rage. "We wont decide what to do until Sakura wakes up. I'll promise Shikamaru a trip to Suna to visit Temari if he manages to convince the elders to cancel the trial. His fate should be decided by you, Sakura and Kakashi, not some ancient fools who don't know a thing about his story."

Grateful for the consideration the Hokage had given Team 7, Naruto nodded. A bastard, a fool, a traitor, a backstabber...

But a comrade. And, deep down within him, a friend. If Sakura could see that, then together they'd bring him back into their lives. Unfortunately, the chances of her forgiving and forgetting were slim. But he needed her support, the convince the rest of the Konoha 12 and the elders and the jounin.

If they suceeded, they'd have him back.

The bastard.

The traitor.

His best friend.

_Sasuke._

So what do you think? I still haven't come up with a fixed plotline but I'm sure I want Sakura to hook up with either Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, Neji or Kiba. So whoever thinks of the best reason for her to end up with any of these by the time I write chapter 5 will have their idea used. If you really don't care, please review still, it's really lovely to read comments.

Ja ne,

Niamh.


	2. Reunion

Eye Contact

**Summary: **She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.

**Disclaimer:** Damn, in the last two weeks, I still haven't claimed possesion of Naruto. How troublesome.

Hospital. Rest. Hospital. Rest. Was it just her or did Sakura see a pattern start to form? Of course, work for Konoha's two most promising chunin was out of the question. When you're good at something (of course) the best thing to do is to sit around and do bugger all. Of course.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Sakura turned to smile at the young nurse who talked to her.

"Hello Kyo-kun! (Picture Kyo from fruits basket in pink scrubs!!) Any interesting patients?"

Kyotaka frowned in thought.

"There's one guy that the Hokage won't let anyone see. She told me to send you to her office. She seems serious...sober..."

Gasping at the thought of a sober Tsunade at 6pm, Sakura rushed a quick 'Thankyou!' to Kyotaka and rushed to the Hokage's building. Ignoring the guards and staff, she rushed straight to Tsunade's office.

"Shishou, what is it-"

She paused as a long silence stretched between those in the room. Of all times. Of all people. Catching a glimpse of red, the panic she'd been feeling diminished to a cold, hard hatred. She realised why she'd been summoned. Oh, but she hated him so much...

Her face smoothed into a carefully blank mask as she inclined her head graciously towards the figure in the room.

"Uchiha-san."

"Haruno-san." His eyes met contact with hers. For a moment that stretched to an eternity, they stood there. Eyes locked. Faces blank. Hearts thudding with nostalgia and resentment.

"How long have you been here?" Though he'd won the stare out, Sasuke found no pleasure in the victory. Sakura was different. She'd changed as much as he had. As Naruto had. The head band she wore showed her as a chunin and the scars that illustrated her arms and neck weren't their from hiding behind her teammates.

More than that, her feelings towards him had clearly changed too. She'd do watching and more fighting now hopefully. Good. One less annoyance to put up with, she may even be useful. Probably not, but it was a possibility.

"About a week. I've been in hospital for a while. I assume you didn't know I was here?" He raised an eyebrow at her calm demeanor but said nothing else.

"You caught me off guard," she admitted, "I was under the impression that I was to kept on a strict régime of uselessness until my wounds were fully healed. No matter how many years that would, realisticly, take." With a harsh glance at her sensei, Sakura felt the resentment she'd felt for the past week bubble beneath her dry exterior.

"So what difference would that make?" With his harsh statment earning a growl from Naruto and Tsunade and even a small, sympathetic laugh from Sai, Sasuke was suprised to see a very small smile on Sakura's face. No blushing or mumbling or yelling, just a small, interesting smile. Interesting because it didn't seem to represent anything. Not amusment, nostalgia, sympathy, scheming or even concealed rage. Just a smile to hide apparent emptiness.

Which was exactly what she felt. At this simple question, every ounce of resentment and anger evapourated to a dead nothingness, masked with a smile. And at the depth of this bitter absence, was the sly curling voice of her Inner. Her real, unvoiced thoughts that she hated to admit, even to herself.

**'Will you show him the difference now? Or wait until a necessary time? Of course there's a difference, he just needs to be watching. You'll blow him away. You've grown.'**

As the voice pushed her into her usual state of unease, Sakura's smile brightened.

"Welcome back Uchiha. Sorry, but I must get back to the hospital, I have a job to do. In the mean time, my vote is on keeping him, but restricting his chakra and banning him from missions for at least a year. Trustworthy isn't the first used to describe him." She directing this last part at Tsunade and, ignoring her former team mate's angry hiss, she left the room.

Uchiha would pay for the insult. Oh how he'd pay.

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'They've let him back in...interesting.' The silhouette watched the Hokage rub her temples in agitation. 'But Pinky doesn't seem too happy about the arrangment, even though she agreed. I'd bet a lot of money that the look on her face isn't her way of representing ecstasy.'

It was true, the dead look in her eyes and the angry set of her jaw as she emerged from the building didn't seem to express unbridled, endless joy. But somewhere along the lines, there was a glint of what looked like...

There wasn't an exact word for it. Sadisticness came close enough. Whatever the adjecive, it didn't bode well with Uchiha. Pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, Kabuto straightened.

Not noticing the eyes that bore into his back, he rose and began to leave.

He froze but didn't turn. A shadowed smile painted his face as he identified the chakra behind him.

"It has been a while..." He muttered, more to himself than the figure.

Grunting in agreement, the shadow shifted to a fighting stance.

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Likey? If not then I appreciate feedback to tell me where I'm going wrong. It's always nice to hear. Also, keep voting, who should go out with Sakura?

Ja ne,

Niamh.


	3. Battle

Eye Contact

**Summary: **She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.

**Disclaimer:**Nope, I still don't own Naruto. Shame.

(A/N: Absolutely thankyou thankyou lovely reviewers for your lovely reviews. It's always nice to have such great support. Wow, I should get a career in advertising underwear...)

"A month?" Sakura stared at her shishou, "surely you can't be serious?" Tsunade sighed.

"It was the elders' decision," she explained, "they figured that his reason for leaving was justified. Plus he killed Orochimaru and he came back voluntarily blah blah blah..."

Groaning, Tsunade rested her head on her desk. In the past half hour, Sasuke had grudgingly followed Naruto to his apartment, Kakashi had arrived to testify in the kid's favour and the elders had insisted on allowing him to resume his status after just a month of being watched by ANBU. Naruto was blissfully unaware of Sai crouching outside of his window and Sakura...well she wasn't screaming...

"Listen Shishou," Sakura rubbed her temples, looking tired, "He's a loose canon! You can't expect him to stay here, he has no reason to! Trustworthy isn't in his dictionary! How-"

Seeing Tsunade's hand raise to signal the inevitable migraine she suffered due to excess alcohol consumption the previous night, Sakura's flow of complaints died down.

"I'm not happy about it either," The Legendary sucker's voice was quiet, the calm before the storm. "I tried to talk them out of it Sakura! You've never had to work with those old fashion-_censored-_so just shut up and let me tell you _exactly _how it went!" Biting her lip, Sakura waited for the inevitable explosion that was to come.

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_Bang!_

Kabuto shielded his eyes with his hands. In the past half hour, the two missing-nin had left Konoha to focus solely on their fight without any distractions from leaf shinobi. Now, as both shinobi reached their limits, the last thing Kabuto was expecting was the lump of clay attaching its self to his right ankle.

"What the hell...?"

The figure before him sighed angrily as he turned to the blonde pyromaniac.

"Deidara, you're late."

"Yeah sorry about that Sasori-Danna. I was caught up with Konoha ANBU un. They didn't put up too much of a fight un..."

_Snap_

Both ninja turned to see a cloud of dust where Kabuto had been. All traces of the sound-nin had vanished. Back to the Sound Village presumably, he probably didn't want Akatsuki to break back in and lift any more important documents like the scroll for the Edo Tense (worldly Resurrection jutsu) which Konan used to revive the Puppet Master. More enemies for the Sound and Konoha. Of course, it wasn't the easiest jutsu in the world to pull off, and she could only bring back one of the best permanently. Sasori happened to be the lucky one and, even after rebuilding Hiroki and attempting to recreate his poison, he also happened one of the most heavily weakened Akatsuki members.

Every other member had some defining feature, be it Kisame's sage mutation or Itatchi's mangekyou, that made them more than human. But now, as Sasori was resurrected into a human corpse, he was this pitiful, weak, human existence. And of course there were only two people to blame. Chiyo was dead, killed resurrecting the young Kazekage, so only one person was alive for him to kill. It wouldn't be easy, but if he had his way, Sakura Haruno would be a corpse under his foot. Perhaps she'd start off his new collection, she did after all destroy his old one.

Until then, the Akatsuki would work to bring down Kabuto and the Sound. When they fell, Konoha would follow.

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Hm, I really don't like this one. I felt the need to bring Sasori back, I absolutely love dark Sasori-wants-to-kill-Sakura-in-a-very-painful-way fics but he'll only play a very minor part in this one. So far, Sasuke's winning, so if you want anyone else to end up with pinkie, just say the word in a review.


	4. Sparring

Eye Contact

**Summary: **She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.

**Disclaimer: **One of these days, someone's going to turn around and say "Yes, I own Naruto." But not today.

(A/N: I'm still eternally grateful for the reviews that are coming in. You guys rock!)

"Hm, I suppose the bell test's getting old huh?" Kakashi, still absorbed in his reading, didn't look up as his old students approached him. "Sakura and Naruto have already proven that the test is perfectly passable."

Sasuke hadn't expected that, how could those idiots possibly beat Kakashi? Naruto looked suitably smug and Sakura's face was curiously impassive. Sai had been sent on a mission almost immediately after Sasuke was permitted to stay, a streak of genius on Tsunade's part as she anticipated the fight that would destroy Konoha if Naruto was left alone with Sai _and _Sasuke.

"Well sensei!" Naruto seemed a little bit _too_ happy at Sasuke's suprise, "what will you do now?"

"Hm," Kakashi turned another page in his book, not really listening. Seeing the explosion that was due to come, Sakura cut in.

"You could always give us a sparring session," she suggested quickly, "I'll fight Naruto and you can fight Teme." Smirking at Sakura's choice in words, Naruto jumoed excitedly.

"I wanna fight the Bastard!" He shouted excitedly, "Sensei, you can fight Sakura-chan!"

"No," Kakashi said calmly, "Yamato isn't here to control you Naruto, so we can't risk you getting angry while fighting, in case you lose control. And if you fight Sakura, you'll probably piss her off and land yourself in hospital. You'll be with me. Sakura can fight the bastard."

"Is that my new name?" Sasuke muttered to the kunoichi, who pointedly ignored him. Slipping back into a graceful fighting stance, Sakura stared down her opponent. She didn't particularly feel like telling the bastard that she'd fought and killed S-rank criminals, just like he didn't want to forewarn her about the fact that he had killed Orochimaru. Activating his sharingan, he decided to humour the young medic.

"Ready?" Kakashi called from his own fighting stance. Nodding, the chunin both disappeared in a flash.

'Damn, she's fast. That'll be courtesy of her chakra control I guess.' Sasuke thought calmly. 'I wonder where-'

Ducking under a chakra filled punch that shattered the wall in front of which he'd stood a second ago, Sasuke stumbled into a carefully placed genjutsu. Unfortunately for Saukra, unlike the two ninja she'd fought earlier, Sasuke had the sharingan. Drawing a kunai as he froze, she approached quickly. If he escaped the genjutsu, he'd run straight into the tripwire trap she'd set for him. Determined to close off the exits, Sakura reached to incapacitate rather than kill. Any second and-

_Poof!_

Sasuke's shadow clone disappeared into smoke as her blunted kunai made contact with his chest. He was nowhere in sight. Not above or around. Of course it was obvious what this meant, but before she could destroy Team Seven's training grounds, Sasuke's hand was gripping her ankle, pulling her down. Relaxing completely, Sakura allowed herself to be pulled underground, until the last millisecond where her fist collided with his stomach, making a minicrater where he fell.

Growling slightly, Sasuke glared at his opponent. Suddenly, as though a wild dog had been released without warning, both shinobi were taking eachother seriously, and fighting to kill.

An endless series of punches and kicks, broken only by the occasional genjutsu or blast of fire, erupted between the ninja. Naruto, who had been twisted into a final headlock by Kakashi about ten minutes into the fight, tried to follow what was going on, but saw only a pink and red blur that was Sakura and a blue blur that represented Sasuke. Occasionaly, they broke appart from eachother and came into focus, only to become crashing blurs of colour again.

'Hm, he seems to be finally taking you seriously,' the sly inner voice had yet again reappeared to disrupt her flow of thoughts as Sasuke sent another jet of flames at her, 'but look where he's lead you...'

As realisation hit home, she glared at the Uchiha's approaching form. The bastard...

"I see you like the scenary," he teased, but he wasn't smirking. He looked as serious as she felt. "Not your favourate place in Konoha, I take it?"

"You could say that." Her voice was light, but her eyes were cold, hard.

Stepping down from the bech she had lay on so long ago, Sakura prepared a chakra scalple. She would not be humiliated here a second time.

'It would be the third time,' her inner reminded her, 'remember when you first became genin? Naruto nearly kissed you, until Sasuke uncovered him and called you annoying. You thought your ego would slip through the floor...'

I was stupid, she reasoned, there's no way that would embaress me now.

"I suppose that's the reason you became the Hokage's apprentice? To impress me?" He couldn't keep the smirk out of his voice and it turned her insides cold. He'd gotten it so, so wrong.

"I asked Tsunade to make me her apprentice after I saw how you used Naruto as a punching bag," she replied icily, "He needed a strong team mate and it was obvious that you weren't coming back."

He froze, her words cutting deeper than he'd have thought.

"I left for a reason." His voice now matched his serious expression. "You know that. I needed to find and kill my brother."

"Which you've thus far failed to do. Are you still too weak?" She was being spiteful, she knew that, but he deserved to be stung a bit.

"What did you just say?" His sharingan was reactivated, his voice a low growl.

"You heard me. Why have you come back?" Her voice was like ice, her eyes hard.

"Because...Because..." He broke off, looking away, "I regretted leaving the moment I left Naruto. But I couldn't go back. I had to kill him... And when I killed Orochimaru, I knew that I had to see Konoha angain. See Kakashi and the Dobe...you..."

"Touching." The voice behind him was so cold that he almost shivered. "Now I f you don't mind, I'm here for the wench."


	5. Inner

Eye Contact

**Summary: **She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.

**Disclaimer:**Naruto belongs to me and me alone. Ha! Lies! Aren't I awesome! And no, Naruto still isn't mine...

(A/N: Gotta love reviews! They're the main reason that I continue with the awful disclaimers.)

**_Wench?_** The sly voice has returned as an indignant hiss. _**Sexist twat... Perhaps running wouldn't be such a bad idea. You and the Bastard have worn each other out, dealing with him isn't gonna be a walk in the park.**_

As if reading her thoughts, or rather her Inner's thoughts as Sakura herself was totally disconnected from the mutterings, Sasuke moved squarely in front of her.

"Run for it, I'll hold him off," he growled defensively. She tried. God only knows how hard she tried, but it was no use. Sakura simply couldn't contain the snort that came with seeing Uchiha's chivalry.

Apparently the joke wasn't past Kisame either. The Shark Sage's laughter sounded like that of an old man with a terrible chest infection, but stronger, its hacking bubbled gurgles ringing out across the deserted street.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as Sasuke's back stiffened in anger, "it's just that I'm not really used to people saying things like that. Well, apart from Naruto of course."

"Sakura," his voice was cold and steady, "if he overpowers me, he wont kill me. My brother wants me alive remember? If he captures you, then it'll probably mean slow torture and death. What did you do to piss of these guys anyway?" This question was asked with a hint with a hint of disbelief and she felt a slight indigence.

"Nothing!" She protested. "Well...um...I did kill Sasori of the Red Sand. And I backed up team 9 and helped kill Kokazu and Hidan. Um, I listened to a conversation between your brother and their leader about Akatsuki's new plans and reported back, stopping them getting the Kyubi. And I stole back that scroll that would've enabled them to raise the dead..."

Sasuke made a strange, strangled noise, and threw himself forwards to block Kisame's attack, aimed for his heart. Perhaps he'd been off the mark when he'd assumed his obvious safety.

**_No,_**for once Sakura was glad to hear this cold, practical voice, **_Kisame wouldn't aim to kill. He knows better, he'd have to deal with the wrath of both brothers if he tried to kill Sasuke._**

That didn't make sense. If Itatchi wanted to protect Sasuke, why would he torture him or kill the clan?

**_The clan doesn't really enter the picture. _**The 'Inner' sounded thoughtful rather than sly. But it wasn't really an Inner was it? No it was more than a mere fabrication of Sakura's unsaid thoughts and feelings. It was so much more, almost like another being altogether. **_I am, _**the illusive voice sounded frustratingly smug, **_or at least it's best to think of me that way. Anyway, Itatchi's murder of the clan had nothing to do with his brother. If Sasuke had been old enough to understand his parents and their aims, then perhaps Itatchi would have ended his life too._**

But what did that mean? Some closely guarded clan secret? It made no sense...

_**Coils within coils. **_The voice replied vaguely. **_Without secrets and ambitions, a clan would soon-Oops! Duck!_**

Dodging the shuriken aimed for her exposed throat, Sakura frowned. Kisame was capturing her, not killing. So why-

"Release!" Her hands pulled themselves together and a voice that was not her own spoke through her mouth. Much more than a fabrication, she thought dryly as she pulled her body back into control. Contemplating intrusive voices and what felt a bit like being possessed would have to wait. A fight, after all, was being fought, and freeing genjutsu was just the beginning.

Sasuke was bleeding quite heavily from what was apparently a pin-prick in his right temple. Knowing better as a medic, Sakura instantly saw the depth of the minute hole and gasped. It was close to his brain, most certainly not good.

"Get down!" She hissed pulling a rapidly unconscious Uchiha down to the ground to inspect his wound. It wasn't difficult to heal, but she shuddered to think about what would have happened if the tiny iron crystal in his skull had drilled a centimeter further. But why? She hated him, surely caring about him was out of the question?

Kisame was advancing forward, a long gash adorning the bridge of his flat nose and a stab wound taking up the patch of kimono that was his stomach. Apparently, she'd been caught in the genjutsu for longer than she'd thought.

"Come on then, unless you want pretty boy here dead."

Because her head was bowed over the boy's still form, Kisame didn't see the smile spreading across her face.

**_I'm going to take over. Just until this is finished. Don't get used to this, I won't take over whenever you need to fight. I won't be around forever and you need to fight your own battles._**

Giving in, Sakura allowed the disembodied thought to spread, until her hands were no longer her own and every limb was unfamiliar and out of her control. And she moved faster than she'd ever done before, even at full strength. Every punch, every kick, every pause and dodge was done with near-rehearsed ease and perfection. It was all so...deliberate, almost like a staged fight choreographed months in advance. Everything was light and fast, her fists slipping through the air and meeting flesh like greased lightning. And she had what felt like limitless chakra, unless her alter ego used something more renewable than inner energy.

"Oof," blood seeped from her mouth as Kisame's fist made sharp contact with her stomach. Her 'Inner' slipped from her limbs and suddenly it was up to her to control her movements. Lifting an arm to block the katana aimed for her shoulder, she felt clumsy and awkward, as if she'd been plucked from ice skates on a frozen lake and dumped on a pair of stilts. She was not, as her Inner so bluntly suggested, nearly as competent a fighter as she could hopefully become some day. Along with the frustration this brought as she struggled with the sage, she also felt an exhilarating inspiration. Someday, she wouldn't need to be possessed to be so skillful. Her movements would be her own and her name would be written in foriegn ninjas' bingo books. She'd be strong! She would be the one that Kisame would fear!

"Ouch..."

Why was Kisame smiling?

The small gasp of pain had come from her?

But why?

Oh.

A splinter of some foreign metal was wedged between two of her ribs.

But why didn't it hurt?

Shouldn't she be screaming?

Crying?

Moaning?

Feeling?

No, it was a simple nothingness.

Not genjutsu.

She was reasonably confident of her senses.

Not medical ninjutsu.

Not her inner.

It hurt, but she didn't feel pain.

Why was she falling?

There was blood.

But where did it come from?...

"Aah!" The scream came from Kisame but she wasn't conscious of it. Or of the white light that seemingly flooded into her opponent. No, her attention was occupied by the splinter in her chest, not by the gentle hands that removed it. By the slim wound, remarkably like Sasuke's, not the voice calling for backup. By the sheer exhaustion that was now her world, not the finger that pushed her pulse until exhaustion passed into unconsciousness.

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Likey? If not, then I always appreciate criticism. Or adoring, wonderful praise. That's all well and good too. Or even just a note to say who you'd like the final pairing to be, or if you think anyone should die. I love feedback.

BTW: I don't know if anyone noticed, but I think Sakura's Inner ended up sounding a bit like Mogget from the Abhorsen trilogy. I'm quite proud of how I've done Inner Sakura, although I'm a bit unsure about where I'm going with the possession thing.

ABTW: I don't know if Kisame's a sage. That was just an educated guess I made from reading about how Jiraiya became a sage, they sometimes cross with the animals don't they?

Anyway, Ja ne.

Niamh.


	6. Hugs

Eye Contact

**Summary: **She caught a glimpse of red and knew why she'd been summoned. Oh but she hated him so much. And of course, it wouldn't be the last time she'd meet his eye. SasuSaku reunion, not clichéd.

**Disclaimer:**Alas! The possession of this fine series is not yet attained in my grasp!

(A/N: Thank you all for not only putting up with my ramblings, but commenting on it as well. My English skills aren't quite so bad as when I first started this, as my teacher made me embarrassingly aware of by reading out an essay I did last year cringes.)

Emerald met azure as the hospital roof blurred into focus. Even with his nose practicly touching hers, Naruto seemed to feel an overwhelming urge to scream loudly an flop onto his teammate on seeing her regain consciousness.

"W-What happened?" Her voice came out shaky and it took an effort to get her mouth around the words, almost as if she'd had a stroke. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it?

"Kisame poisoned you. It was designed to knock you out for several hours," this voice came from the corner of the room, where a brunette lazily shook himself of slumber. With a smirk, he regarded the medic, "it certainly worked."

"Neji?" Sakura stared at the Hyuga in disbelief. "It's been months, almost a year since I last saw you! Weren't you on a mission?"

"I was," the jounin confirmed, "and I got back just to see a traitor and a medic being beaten to crap by a man I impaled months ago. If you call that a man anyway," he gave a sniff of disdain, thinking about the distorted sage.

"Well, in their defence, the medic and the traitor were fairly exhausted from beating each other to crap." With heavy protests from her screaming muscles, Sakura freed herself of her blonde burden to sit and glare at her friend. In a swift, fluid motion, Neji was on the bed next to her.

"I'm glad to hear it." With the rare, genuine smile he reserved for incapacitated friends, he pulled Naruto up onto the bed and hugged them both.

"Um...Neji?" Naruto's slightly wobbly voice that one only uses in the event of heavily restrained laughter broke over Sakura's own astonishment. "You do realise that this counts as emotion right?"

Pulling away to glare at the blonde, Neji found himself pulled into a tight hug by Sakura. As Naruto laughed at the highly amusing 'Neji choking on anoying pinkette's chokehold' noise escaping from Neji's usually sage demeanour.

"Thankyou," she whispered as Naruto pulled his girlfriend's cousin from certain chokage.  
(Ooh! I've just notice that if you take the 'c' from 'chokage' you get 'hokage'! No one will ever know quite how happy that makes me...)

With a smile, Neji allowed himself to be pulled off for ramen. Laughing softly, she lay back down to sooth her burning ribs.

"I can't believe that guy had to save us," a soft voice muttered with a snort, "and what do you mean 'beating the crap out of eachother'? I was winning Haruno."

"Go back to sleep Uchiha." She murmered as the thin vielof exhaustion settled over her own eyes. As an after thought, she added,"Neji didn't save you anyway, you'd have lived. He saved me from a lovely dosage of unbearable pain at the hands of your delightful brother and his friends."

A soft 'hn' from the Bastard's general direction told her that her comment had been processed into his rather thick Uchiha skull.

**For once, we seem to be on the same page.** Even her soft Inner voice sounded drowsy and unfodussed. **Of course I am, **came the inevitable response, **I fought that psycho too you know!**

"Night," Sakura murmered to no one in particular.

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"Jounin?" Even aftersix monthsof training and missions, the idea of a promotion seemed strange to the fifteen year old Sakura. What was more, she had a sneaking suspicion that Kakashi was having the exact same conversation with her male team mates.

"That's right shorty," a typically cheery Anko handed her a scroll with what she assumed to contain recomendations from Tsunade and at least one ANBU member. Probably Sai. "Apparently the Hokage finds you capable of it. This'll be different from the chunin exams though. It's just Konoha and onlyfive candidates can make it, so we don't bother with teams. I suppose that can only simplify things."

Muttering something about dango, Anko walked away, leaving a slightly stunned Sakura in her wake. This promised to be interesting...

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"Haven't been to Konaha in a while ne? Well I have, but it was me against the world. I was never gonna win. You however haven't seen the place in years." Kisame was babbling and he knew it. He had tried and failed to get a response out of his partner and now had nothing to say.

The mission was simple, tedious and frustratingly impossible-Capture the Kyubi Uzumaki Naruto. If possible, get the annoying medic in order to satisfy Sasori's burning desire for revenge. Bring Itachi so that he can wind up his brother.

Of course, they'd had to wait a few months first. In the end, it had seemed sensible to wait half a year for the jounin trials,in whichtheir three targets would almost certainly be competing.

Well...when I say three...

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"What do you mean I can't compete?"

Sasuke's angry voice completely shattered the secure mask Sakura had used to disguise her amusment and her laughter rang through the Hokage's office. With a glare at his former team mate, Sasuke took a calming breath.

"I'm just as capable as any other-"

"This isn't about capability Uchiha," Tsunade's voice was uncharacteristicly cold, "We can't make a jounin out of someone we can't trust. Besides, you're not even a chunin yet. The exam commences in a few months, if you're lucky, I'll allow you to enroll."

With a glare, Sasuke left the Hokage and his giggling comrade with a growl that sounded suspiciously like "women!".

"Don't be so smug," Tsunade tried to glare at her apprentice.She succeded, butonly to spoil it a second later with a deep chuckle of her own. "Did you see his face?" She giggled, "He's going to take this out on somebody..."

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And throughout all of Konoha, a loud, 'Naruto-being-beaten-to-death-by-a-particularly-pissed-Uchiha' sounding scream was heard.

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Sorry that it took so long to update, I haven't been in the country for a couple of weeks. I promise that at some point through the week, a nice long Akatsuki/Jounin exam/AnkoKakashi/Pissed off Sasuke/Very smug Neji filled story will be posted. Also, what the hell's up with Pinky's Inner?

This and more still to come in Eye Contact! Cue dramatic theme music

Ja ne,

Niamh.


End file.
